The Stark Chronicles: Nine Months
by SatineSatire
Summary: Two years into their marriage, Tony and Natasha are finally adding to their family. This the continuation of "Fire and Ice."
1. Month 1

Disclaimer: Marvel owns these awesome characters.

Author's Note: This takes place approximately two years into Tony and Natasha's marriage at the end of Fire and Ice.

* * *

It was a surprise to no one that Steve and Sarah were the first ones to have a child. They had taken a year to enjoy being newlyweds and after that first year, the announcement was made and Sarah was shifted over from an active field agent to desk duty. By the time Kyle was born, everything had been planned and Natasha had stepped up to act as the temporary Avengers leader while Steve took a month off of paternity leave.

Natasha was still ambivalent about the thought of having a family. Part of her simply didn't believe that she would able to be a good mother. She was aware others saw her as cold and in control and for the most part, it was true. She wanted to believe that she was different with Tony, but she was afraid that those warmer feelings wouldn't necessarily translate to a child of theirs.

Tony, for his part, tried not to be pushy with his wife. He himself remembered feeling unimportant to his parents and recalled that up until a few years ago, he honestly had not even believed his father cared much for him. He was determined to do his best to be different with his own child, but in his moments of insecurity he too feared he would somehow manage to screw it all up.

And so they both wavered, occasionally speaking about it, but neither one willing to make a concrete decision.

Until Natasha was given the results of a routine medical examination by S.H.I.E.L.D.

"I'm _what_?" she asked in disbelief, pinning the doctor with an icy death stare.

The doctor actually flinched back from her. At another time she might have been amused by his reaction but right now she was more focused on seeking clarification. "The pregnancy test is positive, Natasha. You're going to have to schedule a follow-up appointment with one of the OB-GYNs, but my estimate is that you're just over 4 weeks along."

She glared at him in response, but was intelligent enough to not question the accuracy of the medical test. "Thank you," she managed to bite out, stalking away from the medical wing of the S.H.I.E.L.D. compound.

Natasha hadn't felt this panicked since she was running for her life away from Hulk.

* * *

Tony was currently banned from S.H.I.E.L.D. Although he maintained his innocence, Fury knew that somehow he was the one responsible for his office being full of Rogaine hair growth products and the screensavers that had appeared on all the networked computers depicting Fury wearing wigs of different colors and lengths.

Tony had helpfully pointed out that even if he _had_ been responsible, keeping him off the property would do no good because he (theoretically, of course) had remote access to the S.H.I.E.L.D. network and could order things online and have them shipped there as well.

It was just as well, anyway, because Tony felt more at home in his own lab and he was making repairs to one of his suits. He was contentedly working on the suit with his music blasting when Natasha arrived home.

Tony stopped the music, then removed his safety goggles and smiled at her. "Hey, baby," he greeted her as she got out of the car, his gaze roaming over her figure. When she wasn't on field duty she wore business clothes and he admired the way her blouse and skirt hugged her curves.

"Hey," she said, walking up to him and giving him a kiss.

He studied her, knowing that something was wrong. She had on her poker face and that in and of itself was a warning sign. Although she sometimes became stressed, she hadn't looked that way since he was first trying to get her to give him a chance at dating him.

"What is it?" he asked, concerned.

The urge to say 'nothing' rose but instead she bit her lower lip. "It's uh… I got my medical exam today."

"Is everything all right?" He knew that she had been experimented upon in Red Room to make her a better soldier and some of the 'enhancements' – particularly those to her brain – were too dangerous to undo so there was always the concern of it causing problems for her.

She nodded, her gaze oddly blank. "Yes, everything came back normal except… except the pregnancy test."

"The pregnancy test is abnormal?" he asked, and then his eyes widened as he suddenly understood her meaning. "You're _pregnant_?" At her nod, he cheered and lifted her up, spinning her around the room.

"Tony!" Natasha said, but his enthusiastic reaction warmed her and eased some of her shock. "Yeah, I'm pregnant." She frowned slightly; it still seemed so odd to stay and felt surreal.

Tony set her back on her face and caressed her face. "How far along?"

"I'm not sure. The doctor said he thought about a month but that I needed to make an appointment with one of the OB-GYNs. I'm sure they'll tell me more then."

"So you do want to have it?" he asked, studying her face carefully.

"I… uh… yeah, I think so." She looked uncertain. "I mean, I don't _not_ want it. I just… I don't know."

"It's your choice, Tash, but I'd… I'd really like for us to have a family."

"I know," she said softly. "I just… failure is not acceptable to me and I feel like I might fail as a mother. What do I know about mothering or being maternal?"

"You aren't going to fail. I don't know much about being a father, but we'll figure it out together. And we'll see how Steve and Sarah do it and learn from them, too. You do care about others. You looked out for Steve and you take care of me. It's not _mothering _exactly, but it's taking care of others."

His words touched her. "And to think I had called you selfish, self-absorbed, and narcissistic before."

"Oh, I'm all of those things," he assured her. "Maybe not as much as before, but they're still there. Still a part of my personality. But with all that's happened to me, and especially being your husband… I want to be better for you. And now our baby." He smiled.

"We already have a baby. What if Maks doesn't like to share?" she asked, beginning to smile.

Tony looked over at their Russian Blue cat that was asleep on a pile of papers on one of his desks. "Oh, he'll be fine. He's a smart cat, remember? Though I still wish you'd let me name him…"

"No. He's a Russian Blue, so he gets a Russian name," she answered calmly.

"I'm going to lose out on naming the baby too, aren't you?" he asked and she smiled sweetly in response.

"No," she said. "We'll figure that out together. We have plenty of time, at least."

"That's true," he said, sliding his arm around her waist. "Come on, let's go upstairs. The suit can wait. Let's order take out, and think about how best to share the news of an impending baby Stark."

Natasha smiled, feeling much better… and thinking this might actually turn out well.


	2. Month 2

The first four weeks after Natasha found out she was pregnant were… complicated. Tony thought she should be taken off active duty immediately, but Natasha was reluctant to make the announcement quite yet (as it was early and a miscarriage still possible). They came to an agreement that Fury had to be told about the pregnancy as soon as possible, and if everything went well after the first trimester than the official announcement could be made.

"I wan to be the one to tell Fury," Tony announced the day after Natasha had the pregnancy confirmed by the OB-GYN.

Natasha rolled over in bed and looked at him drowsily. "What?" she asked, stifling a yawn. Normally Natasha was the one that awakened first early in the morning and she would get in a workout, shower, dress, make breakfast, and come back with coffee for Tony while he started to regain consciousness. Truthfully, she was just grateful he was able to sleep. He still tended to stay up late, especially if he was obsessing about something scientific or that involved the suits, but he rarely had nightmares and overall was much healthier.

Tony smiled, reaching over to run his fingers through her hair. She was still strikingly beautiful, even first thing in the morning. He thought of how he once been terrified to imagine what she would look like with rumpled hair and without makeup, in sloppy pajamas, and nearly laughed aloud. He really needn't have worried.

"I want to tell Fury that you're pregnant."

She was still sleepy, but was not stupid and her green gaze sharpened. "Oh, really? Why?"

"I don't know. I think his reaction will be priceless."

"You just want to screw with him."

"That, too."

Natasha smirked and shifted to lie on her back. "Oh, all right. We should go ahead and get that out of the way. I hate the thought of being put on desk duty but I know why those precautions are taken."

Tony leaned in to kiss her neck, his hand sliding to rest over her stomach. "Yeah, even though it's a baby superhero we still have to be careful."

"Baby superhero," she repeated. "What kind of life is he or she going to have with us as parents? I mean, with all the experimentation that was done to me in Red Room... I don't know how much of that affected me on a genetic level and what will be passed on."

"I don't know, baby. Maybe Bruce can do some analyses on your DNA to try and figure it out. It doesn't matter, though. That's still our son or daughter. They could have some superhuman abilities. Or they could be completely normal. But still be brilliant. It is my kid, after all."

"As modest as ever," she murmured, but could not help but be amused.

He grinned at her, then the grin faded. "I do know one thing, though. No boarding schools. We're not shipping off our kid to have someone else raise them."

"Of course not." She ran her fingertips over his face. "Though… I do worry. I mean, neither of us knows a thing about parenting."

"We'll get books and look at what the research says. We have plenty of time to prepare. And we get to see what Steve and Sarah do with their baby."

She blinked at him. "Are you suggesting we learn from their mistakes?"

"Sure. It's similar to social learning theory."

"Please promise me you won't use Kyle as a guinea pig for anything."

Tony laughed. "Come on, I'm not that big of an ass. The little guy is adorable. I guess the Sarah genes overpowered the dork Steve genes."

She laughed. "He's a _baby_. All you can tell right now is that he has blonde hair and blue eyes. Most of the time he sleeps."

"I know, but he looks all healthy and not like a weakling like Steve says he was before the super soldier serum was used on him."

"That's true," she agrees. "I remember Sarah saying they had been worried that Steve's past health problems would be passed on to the baby. Fortunately, it appears the serum truly changed everything."

"He still ought to thank me for that."

"Your _father_ made it possible, not _you_."

"Still. I think he should accept he belongs to Stark Industries, technically…"

"You're so stubborn," she sighed, but smiled and kissed his cheek. "Come on, let's get dressed so we can go onto the base."

Tony smiled. He was very much looking forward to telling Fury about the baby.

* * *

After taking a detour to have breakfast, Tony and Natasha went to S.H.I.E.L.D. to see Fury. They had to wait about a half hour because he was in a meeting but Fury called them in as soon as he was done.

"We have something to tell you," Tony announced as soon as they walked in through the door.

Natasha shut the door behind them and took a seat across from Fury's desk. "It's important," she said.

Fury took looked from one to the other. Tony looked as if he could barely contain himself with his desire to tell the news. Natasha looked composed, as usual, though possibly a little more serious. "Hmm… all right. What is it?"

"We're going to have a baby," Tony said, unable to keep from beaming.

"What?" Fury's first thought was that it was yet another one of Stark's jokes. However, he knew that Natasha never would have gone along with something so childish and her expression subtly changed to reflect the faintest of apprehension. It struck him then that Stark was telling the truth and Natasha really _was_ pregnant.

"Yes, nearly six weeks now," Natasha said, and smiled as she ran her fingers through her hair. Normally she was still, and this made him realize she was a little nervous.

Fury smiled. "Well, congratulations are in order then. I'm surprised you didn't bring a bottle to celebrate," he told Tony. "Or a cigar or _something_."

"I wanted to but Tash wants to keep it under wraps until she's into the second trimester."

"She is the wise one in the relationship," Fury observed. "All right, I'll respect your wishes and come up with a cover story for why you aren't going on any field agent assignments for the next month, month and a half."

"Thank you," Natasha said gratefully. "The doctor said I'm in excellent health but one never knows what will happen."

"Of course. You won't be let off the hook, though," Fury said, looking at Tony. "After the baby is born I'll do my best to utilize the other Avengers but for the time being we're still going to need Iron Man."

"I understand," Tony said, looking serious. "We'll work something out. If I have to stay gone long, maybe have Tasha stay with the Rogers'."

"Maybe Natasha would like input on what happens to her," Natasha said dryly.

Tony looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry, baby. You know how I get when I worry, and I'm going to be worried til you have the baby." He leaned over to kiss her in apology, which she accepted.

They left the office shortly after, and Fury found himself thinking that he was very glad Natasha had found something else to make her happy, aside from her job. She, of all people, deserved it. And if he was honest with himself, all annoying behavior aside – so did Tony.

"A baby Stark," Fury muttered, shaking his head. "Lord help us all."


	3. Month 3

Natasha had always been skillful at keeping secrets and masking her emotions. After all, for a time her life had literally depended on how talented she was at doing both. When her cover had been blown and she became a public persona, it was disconcerting because she was accustomed to living in the shadows. Still, old habits were difficult to break and she therefore had an easy time concealing her pregnancy from her teammates.

Tony had a much harder time keeping quiet. He was dying to tell Rhodey, Happy, Pepper, and Bruce. (All of them knew something was going on, because Tony's gleefulness was obvious. However, they assumed it had something to do with technology or some sex game with Natasha, neither of which they wanted to know anything about as the former was boring to all save Bruce and the latter too much information.) However, he understood why Natasha wanted to be cautious about things. She had been infertile for years and it was not until S.H.I.E.L.D. had begun attempting to repair the damage that Red Room had caused her that she had found out they were able to restore her ability to have children.

It was because of her previous fertility problems that it was decided she would have an ultrasound a little earlier than normal. Natasha was thankful for the security protocols that ensured privacy for agents receiving medical care, and therefore no one wondered why she was visiting the OB-GYN so often.

Tony, doting husband that he was, attended the appointment and looked forward to being able to see the baby's heartbeat on the ultrasound. He settled down in a chair beside the examination table Natasha was on, watching the doctor lift up Natasha's shirt and smear goo over her flat belly.

"Hey, that makes me think of—"

"I don't want to know," Natasha interrupted him swiftly. "I really… no."

Tony smirked at her and laughed, then turned his attention back to the screen. He watched in fascination at the little blob that was their baby and could see the flickering that indicated the heartbeat. Then he blinked and studied it more closely. "Hey… is it just me or is there two of them?"

"Stop playing around," Natasha said, looking over at the screen, assuming he was making a twin joke to try to get a reaction out of her.

"I'm not. Look at it… what's going on, doc?" he asked.

The doctor was studying the ultrasound as well. "No, he's right. See, here is one head and here is the other one. Congratulations! You're having twins."

"Twins! Did you hear that, Tash?" Tony asked, beaming.

Natasha appeared shocked. "Twins… and once they told me I couldn't ever have any children…" She normally processed information at a very rapid rate, but for some reason was having trouble with the surprise.

"The med-tech has improved since then, baby." Tony said. Especially since he and Bruce became involved with it. He and Natasha had been uncertain whether or not they wanted children but he wanted her to have the choice, and she was grateful for that and his support throughout everything.

"With multiples, your pregnancy is considered high risk now," the doctor told them. "You're a very healthy woman so I don't anticipate problems but we'll just have to be more cautious."

"Not a problem," Tony said immediately, in agreement. "You tell us what we have to do and we'll do it."

Natasha nodded as well and listened as the doctor gave them additional information. She wiped off the goo on her stomach with the towel that was offered and climbed off the examination table.

Tony glanced at her as they headed back home. "You okay?"

"Yes." She gave him a slight smile. "I'm still just… surprised. Letting it all sink in. I'm really pregnant, Tony. We're going to have babies. I guess I just… didn't realize how much I wanted it. I didn't think of it all when I thought I couldn't have children… no, that isn't completely true. I'd occasionally think of it and it would ache, because I would tell myself it was just as well I couldn't have a child since I'd be a cold, terrible mother. But to not be able to have chosen that, to have had some… men in lab coats decide for me, that made me angry. I guess there's a small part of me that feels like this is too good to be true and something will happen and… it'll be like it was in the past."

"No," he said firmly, looking at her while they were sitting at a red light. "This is real. Even if it wasn't, even if you'd remained infertile, if we had decided to have a family we could have adopted. We're having twins, Tash. Like the doc said, we're just going to have to be more careful than if it were just one baby. But it's not like I lack funds. We'll be able to double up on everything. I imagine caring for twins is hard and I don't want you exhausted or overwhelmed. We'll start looking for help now and I'll vet the hell out of them to make sure they're safe."

Natasha smiled at him. "When did you become the voice of reason?"

He took her hand and kissed it. "Baby, you've been my rock for years. You've put up with a lot of shit and have been there for me, calm and steady, and letting me know I'm safe and everything is going to turn out well. The very, very least I can do is return the favor for you now." He smiled at her tenderly and then turned his attention back to the road when the light turned green.

Natasha's smile widened. She didn't know if she deserved a man like Tony, but she felt thankful that she had him.

* * *

It was only a couple of weeks later that Natasha visited Sarah at the Rogers's home. Sarah was still out on maternity leave, although was able to provide some consultation to S.H.I.E.L.D. on an as needed basis. Steve had gone back to work once his paternity leave was up, though still made sure he spent as much as time as possible with his wife and son.

Natasha had very few female friends, so she was glad that she and Sarah got along so well. She carefully held baby Kyle on her lap. He burbled at her and smiled and she could not help but smile back.

"Is there anything you'd like to tell me?" Sarah asked, coming out of the kitchen with lemonade for them.

"What do you mean?"

"Natasha. You haven't been on an active mission in months. I know Fury said you're doing some computer work but… I remember when I became pregnant and immediately got desk duty as a precaution. That and Tony hovers over you and you haven't seemed annoyed by it."

Natasha gazed and her and laughed. "Of course you'd be observant… you're an agent. Well, I'm pregnant… just hadn't want to make an official announcement until after the first trimester ended in case I had a miscarriage. We found out earlier this month that it's with _twins_."

Sarah's eyes widened. "Twins? Wow, congratulations!" She smiled. "Figures, you and Tony would go all out," she teased.

"It does figure, hm?" Natasha shook her head. "I don't know how to manage one. I don't know how I'm going to manage _two_." She carefully handed the baby back to his mother. "How do you do it?"

Sarah laughed, taking back her son. "Well, Steve helps a lot. You can tell that he's just so happy being a father. He told me once it was all he ever really wanted… to have a family of his own."

"I think the same is true of Tony," Natasha said softly. "He doesn't speak often of his parents but when he does… He had every financial advantage you can imagine but he just wanted his parents' attention. I think they did love him but just… didn't show it well."

"And your parents?"

"I don't really remember them. Sometimes I dream, and I think they might be memories of when I was very small. But with all the false memories that have been implanted in me, I'm just not certain."

Sarah nodded, her expression sympathetic as she rubbed Kyle's little back. "You will create new memories with your family," she assured her. "Before I forget, though, I want to talk about something important and pregnancy related."

Natasha cast her a wary glance, afraid that it was going to be something dull. "What?"

"How you conceal weapons on you as your belly grows and your center of gravity changes, of course."

Natasha blinked and then let out a laugh. "And that," she said, "is why you are my best friend."


	4. Month 4

Pepper stifled a yawn as Happy drove them to Tony's house. Even after years flying around the country and all over the world, she still was sensitive to the jet lag. She was pleased that Stark Industries continued to run well with her as CEO, especially because of all the flak Tony received for naming her instead of someone with more experience. True, he had made the decision when he thought he was dying but it ended up working well, as his attention was directed more towards Iron Man and Natasha these days.

Happy parked the car and smiled over at her. "Been a while since we've been here."

"Too long," she agreed, getting out of the car and heading into the mansion with him.

Jarvis greeted them as soon as they entered. "Mr. Stark is still downstairs in the lab. He will be up shortly."

"Thank you, Jarvis," Pepper said, taking a seat with Happy on the couch. She reached over to pet Maks, who sauntered up to them and purred a greeting. She thought about how much Tony had changed, because before Tony having a pet would have been unthinkable – though she still suspected most of the cat caretaking responsibilities fell on Natasha. "Is Natasha here?" she asked Jarvis.

"No, Ms. Potts. Natasha is out with Mrs. Rogers." Jarvis had referred to Natasha as Mrs. Stark after the wedding until she requested he refer to her by her first name.

"Probably out shooting things," Happy surmised.

"Nah, S.H.I.E.L.D. got a new supply of weapon tech in the armory and they were eager to dig through it while Steve stayed with the baby," Tony said as he came into the room.

"Oh, much better," Happy deadpanned.

"Hey, Tony. It's good to see you," Pepper smiled.

Tony smiled at them and scooped up his cat, gently rubbing Maks' head with the backs of his fingers. "I see he came out to say hi. He's been wary since I made a bot that cleans the litter box… Maks is still getting used to things."

"Why did you do that? I thought you and Natasha split cat duty," Pepper told him. "Well… probably more of a 75-25% split," she amended.

He smiled innocently. "We did, but she's been advised not to clean the litter box as a precaution and I'm sure not doing _all_ of it."

Happy nodded amiably, as if that made perfect sense, but Pepper frowned.

"A precaution for what?" she asked.

Tony grinned, pleased he had been able to contain the good news and hadn't shouted it at them as Jarvis had stated he thought Tony might do. "Because she's pregnant with twins and although it's unlikely she could get sick, we're just being really careful."

"Twins?" Happy asked, eyes wide with shock or horror… clearly imagining two mini Tonys running around the mansion.

"Wow, congratulations," Pepper said, standing up to give him a hug. "That's great news!"

"Yeah, congrats, boss. Former boss." Happy smiled. He remembered how hard things had been for Tony after his captivity and he was glad that everything was going well for Tony. Most people saw only his flaws but he had been friends with Tony long enough to have always known there was a good man behind the narcissistic façade.

Tony set Maks down, who scampered off after one of his little cat toys, and returned the hug. He lounged back on the loveseat across from them. "Thanks. And yeah, twins. I would've thought Tash wanted to kill me for that, but I think she's getting used to the idea and is happy about it."

"When is she due?" Pepper asked, sitting back down.

"July 4." He rolled his eyes. "Can you believe it? My kids'll have to share a birthday with America. And Steve." He snorted.

"Probably not… I don't think most babies are born on their due dates, especially twins."

"True," Tony agreed. "The docs have said hopefully they cook in the oven as long as possible and won't come out too premature."

"I can't picture you as a dad," Happy said, squinting and tilting his head to the side as he studied Tony. "Well, I don't know," he amended. "You yell at Dummy a lot. Maybe it'll be the same."

"You can't yell at babies!" Pepper said, horrified.

Tony burst out laughing. "I think if there's a concern about anyone being a father, it's about you, Hap."

"I'd be an _awesome_ father," Happy asserted. "Just that my daughter wouldn't date until she's at least 40."

Tony nodded thoughtfully. "Now there's a good rule I could get behind. I'm going to suggest it to Tash."

Pepper threw her hands up in the air. "You both are _hopeless_."

* * *

On the way home from headquarters, Natasha changed her mind about what she wanted to make for dinner and took a detour to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients she needed. There was a good chance that Pepper and Happy were going to stay over for dinner so she wanted to be sure she made a larger meal for all of them. She still wasn't experiencing any pregnancy cravings, and was glad that pickles and ice cream seemed to be a myth.

She patiently waited in line at the checkout and glanced around boredly. Her gaze fell on the rack of tabloid magazines and she automatically scanned the images without really seeing them until her name caught her eye. She leaned over to study it better and was horrified to see a blurry picture of herself recently taken, with the headline: Mrs. Stark – Pregnant or Letting Herself Go?

"Shit," she hissed under her breath. It wasn't the insult to her physical appearance that bothered her. It was that the illusion that she and Tony could keep such a special experience private was now broken. In hindsight, she acknowledged she should have known it was going to be a problem but she had been so blithely insulated lately.

It was only speculation now, but it would not be long before her growing belly became obvious and not only civilians but also their enemies would be aware she was pregnant.

Natasha _hated_ the idea of being a weak spot for Tony.

She quickly paid for the groceries and stalked out to the parking lot. She put the bags in the trunk and slid into the driver's seat, taking her phone out of her purse to call Tony.

"Hey, baby," Tony greeted her warmly. "On your way home?"

"Yes." She let out a sigh. "Tony – we're in the tabloids."

"That's nothing new."

"There's a pap photo of me and speculation of pregnancy." The other end of the line went dead silent. "Tony?"

"I'll take care of it," he said, his tone hard and steely. She knew it wasn't directed at her.

"How? They'll keep taking pictures of me and I'm not going to hide out in our house."

"You won't have to. This is my fault, because I courted the media for so long they think they can publish about me and anything related to me. There's limits, though. Don't worry about it. I'm going to take care of it. Just come home, Tash."

"All right." She felt on edge and hated the lack of control she currently felt.

"And Tash?"

"Yes, Tony?"

"I love you."

"Love you too." She disconnected the call and tucked the phone back into her purse.

He said he was going to take care of it, and she believed him.

* * *

Tony was as good as his word. Everyone know he could pursue things with a single-minded obsession and when he directed that skill toward ensuring privacy for his wife, he was relentless until he accomplished what he wanted. It cost him some money and agreements to give exclusive interviews to increase ratings and sales, but overall he considered it well worth Natasha's peace of mind.

The pregnancy by then had become common knowledge among the rest of the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony put his head together with Bruce to speculate about what effects the experimentation on Natasha may have on the babies, although at this point it was far too early to tell.

"You're lucky, you know," Bruce told him.

"I am." He looked at him. "You don't want large green babies?"

Bruce smirked. "I think that would be a little scary, don't you? Last thing I'd need is to get a call from daycare because Junior has smashed the entire facility just because little Billy wouldn't share his toy with him."

Tony couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. "That would be… well… money doesn't solve everything but I have your back when it comes to paying for things to be rebuilt."

"Thanks." There were perks to being friends with a billionaire. "You're not nervous yet?"

Tony blinked at him. "Not really. Why? Should I be?"

Bruce thought about how panicked Tony was going to be when Natasha went into labor. He was willing to bet there would be a lot of babbling involved, though maybe Natasha would have enough self-control to not punch Tony to make him be quiet. "No, I guess not," he said, and then changed the subject to a noninvasive genetic test he was working on.

Some things were better left for Tony to discover on his own.

* * *

For her part, Natasha's only close female friend was Sarah. It was slightly awkward to tell her oldest friend about her pregnancy. Clint was observant, however, and was unsurprised when she delivered the news. There was no hugging between them, because Natasha wasn't really physically affectionate that way and their friendship didn't require such things.

"I'm happy for you, Tasha," he told her. "You know, I remember an angry, bitter young girl who was convinced she would never have a life or family of her own. I'm glad that she was completely wrong."

"Me too," she admitted softly. "But it worries me, you know. I was made an orphan and taken. What if…" she looked down at her belly and frowned.

"No. Your parents were civilians and never knew what was coming. You're specially trained, Tony is Iron Man, and you have all of us. Even if the unthinkable were to happen, I promise you that the twins will be taken care of."

Her expression turned relieved and he realized that had been exactly what she needed to hear. Not a dismissive, comforting 'everything will be okay' but a promise that her children would be cared for and not kidnapped and turned into weapons as she had been.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

He simply nodded and turned back to his arrows.

They had been friends for years, and the silence was comfortable. No other words were needed.


	5. Month 5

Being pregnant certainly was not easy. Natasha was able to cope with the physical symptoms fairly well, although her back was aching increasingly and she was perturbed by the amount of times she had to use the restroom. For the most part, though, she thought that everything was progressing smoothly.

What she simply could not deal with, however, was how pregnancy seemed to make her public property and how people seemed to believe this meant they could approach her and gush about pregnancy and babies or worse… try to touch her.

Tony slid into the car and looked over at the passenger seat, where Natasha was sitting with a faintly defiant expression. "Tash…"

"She tried to _touch_ me."

"I know."

"Does my belly have a sign that says free petting or advertise people should rub it for good luck?"

"No," he agreed. "But…"

"But what?" she asked, biting out each word, turning to glare at him.

Tony reassured himself that Natasha loved him and would never hurt him. "But grabbing her wrist and nearly flinging her into a tall potted plant probably isn't the best response. I think you made that busybody almost pee her pants…"

"She was just startled I stopped her hand! It's not like I _actually_ flung her." Natasha's expression subtly changed to just sort of remorse. "It was protective instinctive," she admitted. "And I apologized for it."

"_I_ apologized for it. And paid for her meal after charming her out of being pissed."

"Like I said." She turned away but he could see her relax slightly. "I really didn't mean to…"

"I know, baby." Tony knew that Natasha reacted on pure instinct when she was startled… such as when she flipped Happy over onto the mat in the boxing ring. He actually thought the situation had been a little funny, but as deadly as Natasha was the woman was lucky she hadn't ended up in the aquarium in the restaurant's lobby. "Just… maybe try to control your impulses a little better while you're pregnant?"

"I'll try," she said, making no promises.

Tony let out a breath of relief and smiled at her. _Who would have thought pregnant Natasha could be scarier than unpregnant Natasha?_ he wondered. Well, one thing was for certain. Their daughters would have a strong role model.

"Ready to go start looking at furniture for the girls' room?" he asked.

Her gaze warmed and she smiled. "Yeah." They had just found out that morning at the doctor's appointment that the twins were both girls. "You really don't mind we're not having at least one boy?"

He backed out of the parking spot and drove to a baby store he had researched as being suitable. "Of course I don't mind. Who cares about whether they're boys or girls as long as they're both healthy? Only thing I'm worried about is keeping that Rogers boy away from our girls."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Yes, because if Kyle takes after his father, clearly him being a womanizer is something we'll all have to be on the look out for."

"Okay, you might have a point there," he conceded and she burst out laughing.

"I think you should be more concerned with magazines flooding the girls with offers to pose half naked or worse for them once they turn 18."

Tony nearly braked in horror. "Oh, hell no! They aren't doing anything like that."

"Need I remind you what you were up to when you were 18, sir?" Jarvis spoke up through the navigation system.

"Nobody asked your opinion," Tony retorted.

"Is there video evidence?" Natasha asked Jarvis.

"Unfortunately," Jarvis answered. "He—"

Tony muted Jarvis. "That's enough out of you. And anyway, by 18 I had already been a college graduate for two years so I was entitled to some fun. Also, I think he likes you more than me," he complained to her.

She grinned at him. "Nah. We're just both in charge of taking care of you."

"_I'm_ taking care of you right now." Tony looked over at her seriously.

"You are," she agreed softly, reaching to touch his hand briefly.

He smiled at her and pulled into a parking spot. "No punching anyone in here, Tash."

"No promises," she answered.

* * *

Natasha had been wary about venturing out in such a public place. Even though the media had quieted down and there had not been a single picture of her in tabloids since Tony had negotiated for her privacy, she still knew that the public could not be controlled. Tony had tried to minimize the likelihood of any problems by contacting the store ahead of time and letting them know they planned to shop there. A sales associate was assigned to be near them in order to ensure they would not be disturbed. Tony promised to sign autographs and take pictures with kiddos as long as none were taken of Natasha. Surprisingly, it worked out well.

Natasha found a couple of items she wanted to buy for baby Kyle, and otherwise carefully browsed various items for girls. "I'm not sure I want to dress them alike," she told Tony.

"No," he agreed. "We're not having the Doublemint twins. There's nothing wrong with a little individuality even if it is likely they'll be identical." He paused. "You think we'll actually be able to tell them apart? Or will we need to tag them?"

"They're babies, not animals released into the wild. I don't think tagging them is necessary. Somehow, I imagine we'll figure it out. They're twins, not clones," she pointed out.

"Good point." Tony wandered over to the section with cribs, eyeing each one critically. He pulled out his handheld computer and scanned each one to see which ones had the best reviews and safety records.

"We don't have to buy everything today," she told him.

"I know. I just like to know what I have to work with. And we'll need two of nearly everything."

Natasha nodded. "Eventually. They can probably share a crib at first."

"Yeah. Like they're sharing a bedroom right now." Tony smiled and affectionately touched her belly.

Natasha laughed softly and then gasped when one of the twins kicked her hard. Tony's eyes widened and he looked down at her belly.

"I felt that!" he said excitedly, keeping his hand still in case he felt it again. Natasha had been feeling the babies move for a few weeks but this was the first time he had been able to feel their movement. For a long moment nothing happened, but then there was a second, softer kick.

"My girls," Tony said, beaming. He leaned in to kiss Natasha.

Natasha returned the kiss and touched his face affectionately. "Come on, let's finish shopping. My back is beginning to hurt again."

"At least you've only gone to the restroom once since we've been here."

"Ha ha. Very funny." She wrinkled her nose at him. "Need I remind you that you peed in your Iron Man suit at your birthday party?"

"Oh, come on, that was a joke! And it was years ago. I thought I was dying and I was drunk."

She looked suspicious. "A joke, hmm? So are you saying you didn't _actually_ pee in the suit?"

Tony looked around. "Hey look, those bras have cups that are as big as my head. Maybe we can find one that'll fit you."

She growled at him under her breath but when she saw the maternity bras were pretty, she became interested in browsing.

Tony silently congratulated himself on successfully having avoided answering the question.

He was sure Natasha _really_ didn't want to know.

* * *

Despite Tony's happiness about the twins, he began to grow a little anxious about his ability to protect Natasha and the babies. Intellectually, he knew that Natasha was able to take care of herself more than anyone but her being pregnant brought out more protective instincts in him. To him, keeping them all safe meant keeping all of the Iron Man suits ready and obsessively adding to new ones to make each one better than the last.

Natasha said nothing about his preoccupation but one day he was startled to find Hulk awkwardly unloading a couch and recliner under each arm to where Natasha specified in the basement lab of their home. She carried the pillows and put them into place as Hulk reverted back to Bruce.

"Thank you," she told him, handing him his shirt and shoes.

"No problem. I'll see you guys later." Bruce waved at Tony and headed for his car.

"Tash, what's this?"

"You've been working late and I know it bothers you we're separated for hours at night before you finally go to bed. So I figured I could nap here and then you can wake me up and we'll go upstairs together," she said simply.

He stared at her, feeling touched and happy to have her. "It won't be for too much longer," he promised, walking over to pull her into his arms. "Once I have things just right, I'll be able to relax."

"I know." She kissed him. "It's all right. I understand." She smiled at him and went to settle on the couch with a book on how to take care of babies. Maks found a spot on the back of the couch to curl up on and Tony found himself watching them tenderly for a moment.

He knew he would do anything to keep his family happy and safe.


	6. Month 6

Author's Note: I am sorry it has taken me so long to update! I've been finishing my degree, planning a move, and a new job. I'll try to get this finished over the next week. Thank you for your patience and support!

* * *

For the past six months, Tony had been able to either avoid having to operate as Iron Man or go on quick missions that didn't take him away from Natasha for very long. They both know that it was inevitable a longer absence would eventually be required. When Fury broke the news that Tony had to go to assist with an investigation on suspicious weapons technology in Russia that appeared to be trying to imitate what Tony had created with the suit (again), both Tony and Natasha knew he could be gone anywhere from one day to a week.

Natasha may have been his wife and pregnant, but she was also a dedicated agent and there was no question about him going.

"I'll try to be as quick as possible," Tony told her, his hand resting on her belly and feeling the ripples of movements that were their twin girls.

"Do what you have to do," she said with a slight smile. "Don't do sloppy work, Tony. I'll be here when you get back." Her green eyes were calm as she lifted her hand to brush the back of her fingers against his cheek.

"What, aren't you going to miss me?" Tony quipped, turning to kiss her fingers.

"Can't miss you if you don't go away," she answered sweetly, laughing.

"Ooh. Very harsh, Mrs. Stark."

Natasha smirked and then her features softened. "Be careful."

"You too. I'll have Jarvis monitoring everything."

"I know."

Tony kissed her once, twice, and a third time. "I love you, Tash."

"Love you too, Tony," she said, watching as he summoned the suit to him and it began to assemble upon him.

He turned to look at her a final time before he slid the face piece down and the suit eyes glowed neon blue. She gave him another smile and watched as he finally flew out of the garage and toward the exit.

Natasha took a breath to steady herself. She knew that Tony could more than handle himself and that in all likelihood, he would be gone for no more than a few days. However, she still felt an ache in her chest when she thought of being without him.

"It'll pass," she murmured to herself, sliding a hand back to massage her aching lower back.

"Did you wish for something, Natasha?" Jarvis inquired upon hearing her speak.

"Yes. I think I want Thai food for dinner later. Would you please order my usual?"

"Of course."

"Thank you." Natasha scooped Maks off of Tony's desk and carried the cat upstairs to the living room.

* * *

When Natasha heard the doorbell later, she looked up from the book she was reading. "Takeout came that fast?"

"It is actually Miss Potts and Mr. Hogan," Jarvis answered.

Natasha raised her eyebrows. "Oh… all right." Maybe they were here about something regarding Stark Industries, she thought as she stood to answer the door.

"Hi, Natasha. How are you doing?" Pepper asked with a smile.

"Whoa, you look like you're ready to pop!" Happy said, looking at Natasha's belly. "When are you due, a few weeks?"

Natasha looked at him mildly and replied, "No. Three months" as Pepper gasped in outrage.

"You can't ask a woman that!" she told him indignantly.

"What? Why not?"

"_Because_!" Pepper sputtered. She exchanged a look with Natasha that clearly said 'why do we put up with men?'

Natasha was amused but kept her expression neutral as she invited them inside. "Is something going on with Stark Industries?"

"No, things are going well," Pepper assured her, following her to the living room.

Happy settled in the sofa chair he preferred for a few minutes but then was up and wandering around as the two women talked.

"How's Tony been doing?" Pepper asked.

Natasha leaned back in the recliner. "He's been doing well. Sleeping for the most part, though he has his moments where he gets… you know. In the lab. I sometimes sleep down there to keep him company and he actually tries to be quiet as he works."

Pepper shook her head. "You handle things so much better than…" she hesitated and trailed off.

"I didn't go through what he did, but what happened to me… there's enough similarities that I can understand it from a different angle," Natasha said, absently tugging her tank top down over her belly. "What would I be without being an agent?"

"I don't get it," Pepper admitted. "But he needs this, doesn't he?"

"Yes." Natasha turned her head when Happy re-entered the room shortly after. "I'm surprised it didn't take you longer to sweep the mansion for security holes."

Happy wasn't surprised Natasha had figured out why he and Pepper had come by. Tony had called them via Jarvis and requested they keep Natasha company as long as possible and to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. "Well, Jarvis did it as soon as Tony left and I just checked the spots I think could potentially be a problem."

"Do you want to join me for dinner?" Natasha asked.

Pepper nodded. "That'd be great. Thanks. Have you started the nursery?"

"Yes." Natasha smiled and relaxed as she continued to talk with Pepper and Happy.

* * *

After they left so she could get some rest, Natasha went upstairs to get ready for bed, Maks following at her feet. He jumped up on the huge bed and curled up on Tony's pillow like he normally did.

Natasha leaned over to scratch him gently behind his ears and then went to the bathroom to do her nightly before bed routine. When she came out, she changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. It was becoming harder to get comfortable as her pregnancy advanced but she tried.

"Incoming call," Jarvis suddenly spoke up. "It's Master Stark."

"Tony?" she asked.

"Hey, baby. Everything's fine. I just wanted to tell you goodnight before you went to sleep."

She couldn't help the smile that formed. He couldn't even remember his own birthday but he'd taken note of her usual bedtime and had called at just the right time. "Goodnight, Tony. Watch your back."

"I'd rather watch your ass. Night, baby." The call disconnected while she was still laughing, and somehow, she was able to fall asleep easier.

* * *

The next day, Sarah stopped by with baby Kyle. The day after it was Clint, and on the fourth day it was Steve. Natasha was an observant woman and it was not lost upon her that her friends were checking on her. She appreciated their efforts, especially because she recalled a time in the not so distant past when she did not have any real friends.

It was also reassuring, that her daughters would grow up with people that cared about all of them and would help protect them.

The fourth night, Natasha was in bed lightly sleeping. She immediately woke up when Jarvis said softly, "Natasha. Master Stark is arriving."

Her eyes widened and she got out of bed, heading down to the lab/garage. Tony had just landed and after removing his helmet grinned when he saw her.

"Baby," he said and she rushed to hug him, not caring that he was still in the suit.

Tony smiled and gently pulled away from her, taking several steps back so his suit could disassemble. Once free, he embraced her to him.

"You're hurt," she said, noting the bruises on his face.

"I'll live." He kissed her. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." She touched his face. "Let me get you ice for the bruises. What happened?"

"Sneaky bastards wanted to come up with their own version of Iron Man. Big shocker there – someone's always trying to bootleg me. Like when "I" popped up selling Iron Man shit on Ebay. What the hell?"

Natasha headed up the stairs with him and laughed. "I'm sure someone thought it was worth a shot. I'm glad everything is okay. Those responsible in custody?"

"Yeah, those that weren't killed in the crossfire. Bruce got a little rage-y so… well, that crappy lab needed to be flattened, anyway. Fury was just peeved the agents there are going to have to dig through the rubble to see what they can find that might be useful, and to make sure no one else gets their hands on it."

Natasha nodded, going to the kitchen to wrap some ice in a towel and bring it back to him. She gently pressed the towel wrapped ice to the largest bruise over his left eye. "You had people checking on me."

"Not people. Our friends," he corrected, not bothering to deny it. "For my own peace of mind. Not because I think you're all helpless. I know you could still kill someone with string and a paperclip. I'm not sure _how_, but I know you could."

She laughed and kissed him. "Come on, Tony. Let's get to bed."

Tony smiled, willingly following her upstairs. He was just thankful to be home with her. He didn't believe in prayer but he was grateful to whatever that nothing had happened to her while he was away.

She still had three months until she gave birth, and it was his biggest fear their luck would not hold.


	7. Month 7

Natasha was still a light sleeper, even though she would have loved to be able to sleep deeper and for longer than a couple of hours, at most, at a time. The constant waking up she could attribute to positions becoming uncomfortable faster, and of course her constant need to get up and go pee. She knew this was a normal part of pregnancy, but normal or not she found it irritating and annoying to deal with.

It wasn't surprising to her that she woke up very late (or very early, for some people) to have to go use the bathroom. However, she was surprised that Tony's side of the bed was empty. She wondered if her trained senses were slipping, or if for once she truly _had_ been deeply asleep.

(There was also the possibility that Tony had been stealthy, but the last time he had attempted to do so he had run into the nightstand, tripped over one of the shoes he had left haphazardly on the floor, and cursed as he nearly knocked over a floor lamp. So Natasha was fairly certain Tony hadn't suddenly developed ninja skills.)

Natasha used the bathroom and when she came out, she rubbed her eyes. "Jarvis, where's Tony?" She was thankful for Jarvis, because otherwise searching throughout the mansion would have been very tedious.

"In the nursery, Natasha."

"Thank you," she said. Softly dim lights automatically came on as she left the bedroom and lit her way just down the hallway to the room they had selected for the nursery. She paused in the doorway and looked inside.

Tony was on the floor with paper instructions and all sorts of parts spread out around him. They hadn't been certain whether it was a good idea for the twins to share a bassinet or crib, so they decided to just go ahead and get two of everything. Everything else had been delivered and most of the furniture had been assembled with a few exceptions. The twins weren't due for another two months so there had been no hurry in getting everything in order just yet.

"Tony?" she asked softly.

Tony looked up, his hair up in multiple spikes as if he had been running his fingers through it. He looked tired and there were the faintest hint of dark circles beneath his eyes. "Sorry, baby, did I wake you?"

"No, I had to use the bathroom for the twentieth time tonight." She smiled ruefully and walked into the room. "What are you doing?"

"Just thought I'd get started on all the assembling. Assemble. Like Avengers, assemble, remember?"

"I do," she said, mildly alarmed that he was babbling. She wasn't able to sit down on the floor with him, so she pushed over the gliding rocking chair and sat back into it. "But it's 4 in the morning. Why are you putting it together now?" she asked gently.

Tony looked away from her, and down at the instructions for how to put together the crib. "I couldn't sleep, and then I did and I just had… nightmares."

This happened every so often. It wasn't as bad as the first two years or so after he had been held hostage, but occasionally nightmares still plagued him, and sometimes the nightmares were a combination of his captivity and when he thought he was going to die in New York.

"About when you were captured…? Or when you were up in space?"

"No." He exhaled a harsh sound that was almost a laugh. "I wish. That I could handle. That wouldn't bother me nearly as much as… as…"

"Tony, I don't understand. Talk to me." Natasha shifted in the chair, leaning forward to touch his face, rubbing her fingertips lightly along his stubble.

Tony looked at her, his dark eyes helpless. "I dreamed I lost you and the girls. I was there but I couldn't do anything about it."

Natasha was quiet a moment, taking that in. "Tony, I can't promise you that nothing is going to happen to us – or you," she said, her voice soft. "But we're in this together. We're a family, and will look out for each other. And we have friends that will help us. It's not like it was in the past, long ago, for either one of us. We're not alone anymore."

He moved closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his face against her belly. There were no kicks or signs of movement at the moment, and he guessed the babies were asleep.

Like their parents should be.

"How do you do it, Tash? How can you stay so strong?"

Natasha's arms came around him and she smoothed his wild hair back into place. "I'm not always strong. I'm human… mostly… and I have my doubts and my fears." She looked down at him. "I lost my family when I was too young to really remember them, and then everything that happened with Red Room… it was easy to do the things I did, because I had nothing to lose. Even after I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., it wasn't as if I really had to worry about anyone. I had people I cared about, still care about, but it wasn't… like this. Now I have so much to lose but it makes me all the more determined to fight and give our daughters the life I never had… a childhood."

"I'm scared that I'll fail."

"I too am scared I will fail in protecting them. We just… can't let those fears rule us, Tony. It takes too much out of a person… the strain, and constant worry. We're going to do the best we can."

"Sometimes I don't think I deserve you or this life, this happiness you've brought me."

"Where's my favorite narcissist? That doesn't sound at all like the man I married," she said, her voice soft and teasing.

Tony looked up at her and smirked. "Favorite narcissist, huh?"

Her fingertips traced over his jaw. "You deserve me," she assured him. "I've done many terrible things – killed people for money, and worse. I know at times I still am cold and have some trouble showing and sharing my emotions."

"You're perfect the way you are, Tash," he said, his voice tinged with a tenderness he had only ever felt toward one person – her.

She smiled at him, her beautiful face lighting up. "You're going to make me cry," she joked.

"Please. Even hormones wouldn't make the Black Widow cry," he said, and they both laughed.

"I'm not that bad."

"Oh, really?" Tony asked, arching his brows. "Who made the newbie field agent flee the room and start crying?"

"An overly emotional response to a simple line of questioning," she retorted swiftly. "My only objective was to figure out who made the mistake. It wasn't as if I was going to take them out back and shoot them."

"Unlike that one time in 2009 when you—"

"Allowing you access to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database of incident reports was such a bad idea," she interrupted.

"Oh, come on, it wasn't like I wouldn't have found my way in eventually." He grinned at her.

"What a classy comment," she deadpanned.

"What?" It took him a moment and then he burst out laughing. "And you say I'm a pervert."

"You are," she answered primly, glad he didn't look as hopeless as he had when she first entered the room.

Tony ran his hand over her belly lovingly. "What if I'm an awful father…?"

"You won't be," she said with certainty. "And if you have questions, you could always talk to Steve."

"He looks so happy when he talks about his son."

"Of course. He waited a very long time to have a family of his own." She smiled at him then her features turned serious. "I worry, too, though. I mean, I'm not very warm or maternal. For a long time I thought I couldn't have children and then I went through periods where I was fine with that, because I didn't want to have any."

"You're reserved but you _are_ affectionate. You take care of me and Maks. Maybe you won't be in the kitchen baking cookies when the girls get home from school but so what? You'll be the sexiest, most amazing kickass mom."

"I'm looking forward to them being born. I do miss field work, though," she admitted.

Tony nodded thoughtfully. "If you want to get back to work sooner than your maternity leave is up, I'll stay home with them."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I got everything I need in the lab and through Jarvis I have access to anything on S.H.I.E.L.D. servers. We'll make arrangements if we both have to be out of the house but otherwise? I'd love to take care of them."

"You're… always surprising me," she said, looking at him. "I never thought you'd offer something like that." She smiled. "I don't know what I want to do right now, but it makes me feel better you're supportive of me going back to work."

"We have time to figure it out," he said, feeling his mind more at ease. He stifled a yawn.

"Let's get back to bed," she suggested.

"Good idea." He pushed himself to his feet and then offered her his hand.

Natasha accepted it and he pulled her to her feet easily.

Once they were both in bed, Tony spooned up against Natasha, his hand resting on her belly. He drifted off to sleep, reassured at least for the moment that everything was going to be all right.


	8. Month 8

Author's Note: I apologize this has taken so long! Graduation, a move, and new job took up much more of my time than I thought it would, but thank you to those of you who have stuck with me!

* * *

As Natasha began her 8th month of pregnancy, Tony was reluctant to leave her for an extended period of time. He knew that because they were expecting twins that there was a good chance that the babies would be born early. He tried not to think too much of what he had also read, that there was an increased chance for complications. They had been fortunate so far, but he was still concerned about the birth. Although intellectually he knew Natasha was a strong and healthy woman, he still could not help his worry though he tried not to let it show too much.

Natasha herself was torn; she was growing a bit tired of the 'miracle of pregnancy' as some women referred to it and felt ready to have the babies. However, she was also slightly dreading the experience. Although she felt fairly confident she would be able to get through it (as she thought she had gotten through much worse things), not knowing exactly what to expect and more specifically, not knowing how she was going to react rankled her.

Sarah had assured her that while painful, it was something she would be able to get through and if Tony were anything like Steve, the delivery would be tougher on Tony than it would be on Natasha. Sarah loved her husband dearly but still couldn't help but laugh when she remembered how utterly panicked Steve had become when she told him she was in labor and they needed to go to the hospital. (Sarah was just grateful by that time Steve had grown comfortable with driving modern cars, otherwise it would have been somewhat difficult and probably unwise for her to drive them to the hospital.)

For his part, Fury tried to be accommodating to the expecting couple. Unfortunately, there were some instances in which Iron Man and/or Tony's expertise were needed and it wasn't sufficient for Tony to be available via video conferencing. Natasha, still a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent despite no longer being on active field duty, understood this and did not have a problem with convincing Tony to go and be the superhero she knew he was. She would have been angry with a partner selfish enough to demand she give up an important part of herself, and she would never do the same thing. For all she had called Tony self-centered and a narcissist in the past, she had been pleasantly surprised to discover under his hard façade he was actually a very generous and giving man.

So when Tony had to go do an in person consultation for S.H.I.E.L.D. in Asia, she did not mind although was amused that Tony had insisted Rhodey stay at the Malibu mansion to look out for her. She thought about protesting that she did not need a babysitter, however, she decided that Tony's peace of mind was more important to her than throwing a temper tantrum over her ability to adequately defend herself.

Natasha was in the kitchen, making herself some tea while Rhodey foraged around in the fridge. Natasha's influence on the mansion was obvious, he thought. For one thing, there was more in the fridge than old pizza and suspiciously moldy leftovers he suspected were capable of becoming sentient life if Tony left them unattended long enough before the maid showed up.

He closed the fridge after taking out things to make a sandwich with, and studied Natasha.

"I was wrong about you," he said, going over to get the loaf of bagged bread on the counter.

She glanced over her shoulder at him, one eyebrow arched. "Were you?" she asked, not seeming very interested.

She was warmer when Tony was around, Rhodey thought. Or maybe Tony brought that out in her.

"I thought you were wrong for Tony and that you'd end up hurting him. I was wrong… and I apologize."

Natasha smiled then, because she could hear the sincerity in his tone. "Nothing to apologize for," she assured him. "We have our ups and downs, like in any relationship, but when I agreed to marry him I knew I would be in it for the long haul. I love him," she said simply.

Rhode nodded. He knew Tony loved Natasha more than anything. It was why he agreed to stay with her while Tony was gone, more to help Tony out so he'd be less neurotic and obnoxious than usual. Tony had only called Rhodey twelve times today to check on them, and Rhodey was impressed with Tony's restraint. He didn't actually think Natasha needed him, though. Pregnant or not, he thought Natasha was one of the most dangerous women in the world and certainly didn't need a babysitter.

Natasha was just about to sit down to drink her tea as he finished making his sandwich. Rhodey opened his mouth to ask when the due date for the twins was when an explosion outside knocked him off his feet and sent Natasha crashing into the wall behind her.

"Jarvis, what's happening?" she snapped, shaking off the feeling of being stunned and not knowing what was occurring.

"It appears—" Jarvis' voice stopped and slurred as the electricity went out. However, it only took a few moments for the back up generators powered by a minuscule arc reactor to come online. "My apologies, Natasha, it appears there is an outside attack with some sort of soldiers attempting to infiltrate the interior of the house."

"How much time do we have?" Rhodey asked, reaching for his gun.

"Two minutes. Perhaps less," Jarvis answered.

"If you can scan and detect an aerial attack, remotely activate the suits and send them out to form a protective barrier," Natasha ordered. "Shoot down anything not identified as an ally. Try to keep the suits out of the house to minimize damage. Notify Tony of what is happening." Her face was grim but her words came out cold and controlled.

"Done," Jarvis answered.

"You sound prepared," Rhodey commented, trying not to let on how worried he was about the situation. If anything happened to Natasha, Tony would be unable to cope with her loss. Not to mention the twins…

Natasha smiled darkly; moving her hand to open up a small compartment built into the kitchen wall he never even knew was there. "I'm a former spy and we turn paranoia into an art form." She pulled out a pair of guns and tucked a large sheathed knife into the waistband of her pants. "When Tony gave me free rein to redecorate I did so… very thoroughly." She handed him another gun before closing the panel. "I love this house," she said quietly. "It's the first true home I have ever had…" Her voice shifted, turned steely. "And _no one_ is going to get away with trying to attack me inside it."

When he heard the front door blown open, all Rhodey could think that maybe Tony hadn't been joking when he had commented that the only person he could think of scarier than Natasha was pregnant Natasha.

* * *

Tony was doing what he enjoyed most, talking superiorly about technology and feeling greatly pleased with himself. He felt his phone vibrate and would have ignored it and kept talking, except he was still slightly worried that Natasha would go into an early labor.

As scary as that scenario was, he would have much preferred it to answering the phone and hearing Jarvis' familiar voice tell him tensely – how could an AI experience emotion? Simple, Tony Stark was the one who had created him and he was _that_ good – that the house was under attack.

He stood up from the table so fast he knocked back his chair and was stalking away from the conference table without so much as a goodbye to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s allies. In that moment, he truly didn't care about anything except getting home.

And yet the thought that even with the suit he would probably not get there in time… his heart – _heart_, not arc reactor, he thought to himself – tightened Tony grit his teeth as his suit assembled onto himself.

"Jarvis? Execute contingency plan #783. And tell Tash I'm on my way."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Natasha did what she did best – kill. Though her balance was off because of her advanced pregnancy and she wasn't as fast as she usually was, she still was extremely dangerous and kept her disadvantages to a minimum but not allowing anyone close enough to her to strike. She could see out of the corner of her eye Rhodey holding his own admirably.

"We should get out of here," Rhodey said softly, able to hear the footsteps of the attackers that were out of sight, hesitant and probably rethinking whether they wanted to meet an end like those that had gone on ahead. "If the suits have cleared the air for us, we can have one each transport us to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base."

Natasha was about to agree, when her heart froze as she remembered that Maks was somewhere in the mansion. "Jarvis, where's Maks?" she asked urgently.

"I am not certain, Natasha." There was a pause, and then Jarvis spoke up again. "He is hiding underneath the bed in the master bedroom."

Natasha turned an agonized gaze on Rhodey. She was a professional, and knew what she would have advised someone under attack – to escape, and leave behind the pet. It was the intelligent decision, because valuable time would be lost trying to retrieve it. Her eyes stung and burned. Maks had been a gift from Tony their first Christmas together, and she had already had so much taken from her in her life.

"I can't leave him," she said, her voice breaking, her expression turning frantic as she tried to think of a way to get upstairs without putting herself – and the twins – in more danger.

Rhodey let out a breath. "Master bedroom, under the bed, right? I'll grab him."

"No, you—"

"_You_ need to get out of here!" Rhodey countered. "Let me get the cat and I'll meet up with you at your headquarters. Go!" He turned around and – for once thankful for the maze-like mansion – took the back way up to the second floor.

Natasha heard the sound of bullets being fired and knew she couldn't waste more time. She tossed the gun with the empty clip aside and gripped the other one in her right hand as she carefully headed outside.

She heard more gunfire and paused, daring a peek around the side of the house. There she saw her explanation for why more attackers had not headed into the house while she had dithered with Rhodey.

James Barnes gripped the neck of a man with a gun with his cybernetic arm, and casually broke it. He glanced up at Natasha and smiled. "Stark sent me to save you." He cocked his head when she suddenly raised her gun and pointed it at him.

Natasha shot the soldier behind him that had started to get up. "Looks like we're even," she said, and smiled slightly.

"Where's Rhodey?"

"Getting Maks." She leaned back against the wall behind her slightly and her eyes shut as she winced. "We have to go. I think…" She opened her eyes and grimaced. "I _really_ hope I'm just feeling some false contractions."

James looked at her with an expression she'd never seen on him before. He looked like a deer in headlights.

Natasha almost laughed.

* * *

Tony received updates from Jarvis on the situation. Later he would figure out exactly who had made a play for his wife and his home (and there would be hell to pay, not to mention the mess that had been left in their home that needed cleaning up), but now he had bigger concerns. He de-suited as soon as he reached S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters and barreled into the medical wing.

"Natasha?" he barked at a startled nurse behind a desk.

"Um, sir?" she stammered.

"She's down here," Rhodey called from the hallway.

Tony hurried over to him and paused long enough to observe the white bandages on his friend's face, hands, and arms. "Got your ass kicked by those punks?"

"No," Rhodey said, glaring at him. "_Your_ _cat_ wouldn't let him pull him out from under the bed! If I get cat scratch fever, you're going-"

"Yeah, yeah," Tony said dismissively. "Where's Natasha?"

Rhodey sighed and directed him to the room. He was just thankful Bruce had been around at S.H.I.E.L.D. to take the cat from hell out of his bleeding grasp. Perhaps even the cat was smart enough to not irritate the Hulk and was not nearly so impressed with him, Rhodey thought crankily.

Tony ran into Natasha's room. She was in the hospital bed, looking grumpy. It was hard to say what put her in a worse mood – the contractions, or the indignity of a hospital gown. James was standing beside her but looked up at Tony.

"Thanks," Tony remembered to tell James without looking at hi as he rushed to Natasha's side and took her hand. "You're not going to break it, are you?"

Her eyes narrowed and she smiled so sweetly that it terrified him.

"We'll see," she told him.

James quickly walked out of the hospital room so he would not ruin their intimate moment. He wanted to tell Tony that no thanks were necessary and that he had gladly dropped everything to go make sure that Natasha was safe because he still loved her. And though he felt an ache at what he had lost with her, there was also a sense of peace because though she would have disputed it, he knew she deserved to be happy – and it was clear she was happy.

Maybe one day he, too, would deserve it.

* * *

The next day, Tony looked down in awe at his newborn girls. "Identical twins, Tash!" he murmured, smiling a dazed smile. "How're we going to tell them apart?"

"We'll manage," Natasha answered, her voice also soft – and exhausted. She wanted to sleep but was also running off an exhilarated high.

Tony laughed happily. Both baby girls were tiny with a fuzz of auburn hair on their heads. Their eyes looked blue and he dimly remembered reading somewhere that the eye color could change later.

They were beautiful.

Natasha's eyes drifted shut then she opened them again as something occurred to her. "What's written on their identification anklets?" she asked, trying to glance down at the twin she had in her arms.

"Thing 1 and Thing 2 Stark," Tony answered promptly.

"What? You didn't!"

"You're the one that told me to read Dr. Seuss. I gotta tell you, I really think Bruce and I could do better. We're doctors, too. I bet people would buy it. Especially if we put Hulk with rosy cheeks on the cover."

Natasha stared at him, and started laughing. Both babies made little burbly cooing noises and Tony smiled widely.

It was the happiest day of his life.


	9. Month 9: Epilogue

Although Tony had indeed been correct in that he had asked a nurse to write down Thing 1 for the older twin and Thing 2 for the younger, that is _not_ what their names were on their birth certificate. Tony and Natasha agreed to name their older daughter Anastasia Marie and their younger daughter Katerina Elizaveta, and nicknamed them Anya and Katya.

Natasha rolled over in bed and awoke abruptly. For a moment, she felt disoriented and blinked as she sat up. Tony stood over in front of the bassinet the twins were sharing, talking softly to them as they fussed. Because of their premature birth, they'd had to stay in the NICU for about a week but they quickly demonstrated that despite their early arrival and small size they were healthy. The delay in taking them home had actually worked out well because it gave them a head start in cleaning and doing repairs on the mansion.

"Oh, look, Mommy's awake," he said, grinning over at Natasha. "Anya, you get to hang out with me while Mommy feeds Katya first." He carefully passed his younger daughter over to Natasha.

Natasha smiled and sat up to breastfeed Katya. Although it was far too early to discern true personalities, it did seem that Katya was milder than her twin. At any rate, she was less noisy and demanding… perhaps Anya took after Tony. The thought amused her and brought a smile to her lips.

Tony gently held Anya and spoke to her, managing to soothe her fussing. "Tash… I've been thinking."

"Hmm?" she asked, looking up from Katya to glance over at him. "About what?" Her gaze clouded with concerns. "No nightmares?"

"What? Oh, no," he said, shaking his head. "That's not why I was up. I mean, I have my normal trouble sleeping and I might peek in on the lab later but I figure that's actually a good thing. Because I get to be awake anyway and help you take care of them, you know? But no, what I was actually thinking about was… if you wanted to go back to work, I'll stay home with them. Once they can drink your milk from a bottle, I mean."

Natasha stared at him in surprise. "You want to be… like a stay at home father?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Something like that. I can do a lot of my work from home and if I have consults we can swap out but… I know you miss the field work. And plus, I don't want to be like my dad. I want to be there for our girls and I want them to know now – not decades later – that I love them."

She was silent, because it was true. She loved her daughters and wanted to be a good mother… but she did miss her work.

Tony tickled Anya's little foot. "We don't live in the Dark Ages. It's not like you _have_ to stay home. And well, there's some perks to have married a billionaire, right?"

"Some," she agreed with a little smirk. It softened to a genuine smile. "Let's see how the next couple months go and then… if I still want to work, we'll figure out the arrangements."

He smiled at her, and she felt an overwhelming sense of love for him welling up inside her. Even with his hair sticking up in crazy spikes and wearing a pair of old pajama pants she couldn't convince him to get rid of, he was still incredibly handsome.

"I love you," she blurted out, and he looked surprised. He knew she loved him, but she didn't say it frequently and he didn't mind. He still knew how she felt.

"I love you too, Tash," he said tenderly, going to sit next to her and cradling Anya in his arms. He leaned over to kiss his wife. "Hey, baby?"

"Yes?" she asked after returning the kiss.

"How much time… total… will you think I have to share your boobs with the girls?" he asked idly.

Natasha stared at him blankly, and then her lips twitched.

Well, it was nice to know _some_ things never changed.

* * *

**Author's Note**: One again, thank you to those who have been following this story and this series! I read each of your comments and appreciate all of the feedback. I don't think this will be last story of Mr. and Mrs. Stark, though I'm not sure when the next one out will be - hopefully something for the holidays! :)


End file.
